Downstairs neighbor complaining about my 2 year old kid noise

4 years ago

2 months ago we moved in into 2 story apartment complex. We asked for first floor because of our toddler son, but realtor and leasing agent only offered us 2nd floor, and affirmed us that kids were not an issue.

After about 3 weeks after moving in my downstairs neighbor made a suggestion about considering others living below me. That took me completely by surprise, because we're very quiet, with no visitors, late night parties, hell, I didn't even hook up my speaker system just not to make any noise. I responded that apart from my kid running occasionally we weren't making any noises and I had no idea what he was talking about.

Fast forward to last weeked, his lady came over complaining about my kid running and that it was driving them crazy. I apologized and we ended it at that. Last Monday, around 7:30 AM my kid was playing and running like usual, but this time they started banging on the ceiling really hard, and after few minutes he run upstairs and started banging on my door. When I opened he started yelling about putting up with this bullshit, to which I replied what bs. He yelled that I should control my kid, that I was a grown man, after that he heard not to tell me how to raise my kid. I told him my son was 2 years old, and he had a right to play, to run, that he had a right to be a kid. He responded with threats, that I didn't want to be on his bad side, and next time he had to come up, it wouldn't be so pretty. And he also made up claim that I was making a noise too. I responded that next time he came up, I was calling the cops. I told him we were done and closed the doors.

After that confrontation I called leasing office and complained about him banging on ceiling and making threats, to what lady responded with "ok, bye". I also called police department to report harassment and threats. They dispatched officer, he told me that downstairs neighbors called about the noise, but they wouldn't dispatch anyone. He said that noise is part of the apartment living and that I wasn't doing anything wrong. Then he went to talk to them. That was the end on Monday.

Today my wife called main office that owns apartments, they took our number and promised to investigate, but also made a statement that kid shouldn't be running in apartment.

Some additional info, we live in NY, in Dutchess County. My son is 2 years old, so terrible 2, there's no reasoning with him, no controlling him, he won't listen, he probably won't understand at that age, he has a mind of his own, he wants to do things his way. He sleeps all night, wakes up around 7-7:30AM, he's in bed by 8PM, so absolutely no noise at night. Normally he's in daycare from 7AM until about 5PM, but right now we're during Covid-19 lockdown, his daycare is closed. My wife is essential worker, so she leaves home every day, I work from home and I have to keep an eye on the kid too.

Our apartment has carpets in bedroom and living room, with foam padding underneath, but the building construction is really poor and cheap, and when kid is running on carpet, walls do vibrate.

Neighbor downstairs apparently has had a history of complaining and banging on people's doors in the past. He's and old, grumpy guy. I'm not willing to work with him on any issues anymore, he lost that option when he banged on my door trying to tell me how to raise my son. What kind of human being calls cops on a 2 year old?

My question is, can landlords legally prevent my kid from running inside? Or from making any noises for that matter? From the research that I've done so far, Fair Housing Act prevents landlords from making any rules targeting kids, except when it involves kids safety, like no unsupervised kids in the pool, etc., and that courts have repeatedly ruled against landlords in such cases. Is landlord discriminating against my kid when they say he cannot run inside apartment? Can I expect landlord to notify downstairs neighbors to stop harassing me and discriminating against my kid? Should I explore taking legal action against both landlord and neighbor? Should I try to get order of protection if he keeps harassing me? Should I even open the door if he comes banging again?

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

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Comment (1)

christine 5b
4 years ago
If you hadn't posted Dutchess I would have sworn you live in my complex, I'm in Ulster.. I'm in a downstairs apartment, there have been 4 other people above me, one was actually evicted because the managers wife was here one night and the gal upstairs had her niece & nephew over 8 & 10 yr's old, my friend was shocked over the noise I heard and I told her it was like that every time the kids were here, well my friend ran up the stairs and told her to cut the crap and the tenant lied to her face and said I was making it all, the noise did continue an finally a month later she was given notice. I now have a couple over me that are so loud it drives me insane, they dont walk they stomp and slam doors, drop stuff all the time, now there is a new owner here with a complete different attitude, which is, if you dont like it move, I'm 70 and unable to afford to relocate so I'm stuck here in my living hell.

Your neighbors probably won't stop harassing you and the landlord probably won't do a thing. Try putting down some extra carpets, if you & your son have on shoes maybe take them off, every little thing helps and it will be better for your piece of mind. Ask to be put on a list for a down stairs apartment or maybe plan on moving to a better place in the future. Best of luck.
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Downstairs neighbor complaining about my 2 year old kid noise

Comment (1)

christine 5b

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